Citation and interpretation

1. —(1) This Order may be cited as the Localism Act 2011 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional, Transitory and Savings Provisions) Order 2012.

(2) In this Order—

“the 2000 Act” means the Local Government Act 2000( 2 );

“allegation” means an allegation in writing that relates to the conduct of a member of a police authority where that alleged conduct occurred prior to the commencement date;

“commencement date” means the 22nd November 2012;

“elected member” means a member of a county, district or county borough council appointed to a police authority in accordance with regulation 7 of the Police Authority Regulations 2008( 3 );

“host authority”, in relation to an independent member, means the local authority which is being provided by the Secretary of State with financial resources in connection with the exercise of functions by or in relation to the Police and Crime Panel( 4 ) in the area of the independent member’s former police authority( 5 );

“independent member” means an independent member of a police authority who was appointed in accordance with regulation 9 of the Police Authority Regulations 2008;

“member” means an elected or independent member;

“police authority” means a police authority in England or Wales established under section 3 of the Police Act 1996( 6 ); and

“relevant local authority” means—

Provisions coming into force on the commencement date

2. Subject to articles 3, 4, 5 and 6, the following provisions of the Localism Act 2011 come into force in relation to England and Wales on the commencement date—

(a) section 36 so far as it is not yet in force;

(b) section 26 and Schedule 4 so far as they relate to police authorities; and

(c) Part 5 of Schedule 25 and section 237 so far as relating to that Part, so far as they relate to police authorities.

Saving provision in relation to police authorities in England and Wales coming into force on the commencement date

3. Notwithstanding the amendment of sections 49(6) and 83 of the 2000 Act by Schedule 4 to the Localism Act 2011, those sections shall continue to have effect in their un-amended form for the purposes of the definition of “relevant authority” in Part 3 of the 2000 Act for the purposes of the transitional provisions made by this Order.

Transitional, transitory and savings provisions in relation to police authorities in England

4. —(1) This article applies where an allegation concerning a member of a police authority in England is made—

(a) before the commencement date, to the police authority and in respect of which no finding has been made by the standards committee of that authority; and

(b) on or after the commencement date but before 20th December 2012, to the relevant local authority in relation to that member.

(2) Where this article applies—

(a) the allegation shall be treated as having been made to the relevant local authority under Chapter 7 of Part 1 of the Localism Act 2011;

(b) the relevant local authority shall deal with the allegation in accordance with the standards arrangements the authority is required to have in place under that Act; and

(c) section 28 of that Act has effect as though—

(i) references to a relevant authority’s code of conduct are references to the code of conduct of the police authority of the member who is the subject of an allegation, and

(ii) references to an allegation have the same meaning as in this Order.

(3) Notwithstanding article 2—

(a) section 50 of the 2000 Act and any order made under that section, and

(b) section 51 of that Act and any code adopted under that section,

continue to have effect for the purposes of enabling an allegation to be dealt with in accordance with this article.

5. Notwithstanding article 2, the provisions of the 2000 Act, and any regulations made under them, which are repealed or amended by sections 26 and 237 of, and Schedule 4 and Part 5 of Schedule 25 to, the Act continue to have effect for the purposes of—

(a) the bringing of an appeal under regulation 21 of the Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008( 8 );

(b) proceedings before the First Tier Tribunal on a referral under section 64(3)(b) or 65(4) of the 2000 Act or under regulation 17 of the Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008 or on an appeal under regulation 21 of those Regulations; or

(c) legal proceedings associated with proceedings on an appeal or referral,

where proceedings were commenced before 22nd November 2012 or relate to a finding made by a standards committee before 22nd November 2012.

Transitional, transitory and savings provisions in relation to police authorities in Wales

6. —(1) This article applies—

(a) where an allegation concerning a member of a police authority in Wales is made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—

(i) before the commencement date and in respect of which no determination has been made; and

(ii) on or after the commencement date but before 20th December 2012; or

(b) in any other case in which the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales considers that a member of a police authority in Wales has failed, or may have failed, to comply with the authority’s code of conduct prior to the commencement date and which has come to the Ombudsman’s attention as a result of an investigation arising from an allegation made in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b).

(2) Where this article applies—

(a) the provisions in Chapters 3 and 4 of Part 3 of the 2000 Act, and any regulations made under them, shall continue to apply to a member of a police authority in Wales as though the member was a member or co-opted member of a relevant authority in Wales; and

(b) the allegation or case shall be determined in accordance with the provisions in the 2000 Act but with the following modifications—

(i) an investigation may not determine the finding that a matter should be referred to a monitoring officer under section 69(4)(c) or (5), and section 71(2) and (4)(b) shall therefore not apply;

(ii) where an investigation is ceased before completion, the matters under investigation may not be referred to a monitoring officer under section 70(4) or (5);

(iii) the requirements in section 71(1)(c) and (3)(c) to send a report to the monitoring officer and in section 71(1)(d) to inform the monitoring officer of the outcome of the investigation, do not apply;

(iv) in section 73(7) the references to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales referring any matter to the monitoring officer under section 70(4) or (5) or 71(2) or (4) shall not apply; and

(v) in section 79, if the person concerned is a member of another relevant authority in Wales, any notice required to be given to a standards committee under subsection (2), (7), (8) or (10) must instead be given to the standards committee of that other relevant authority and subsection (11) has effect accordingly.

(3) Notwithstanding article 2—

(a) section 50 of the 2000 Act and any order made under that section, and

(b) section 51 of that Act and any code adopted under that section,

continue to have effect for the purposes of enabling an allegation or case to be determined in accordance with this article.